The Steelers and Good Business Models

The Steelers and Good Business Models

I always say that in investing you want to buy stock in a company that has a business that’s so good that an idiot can run it, because sooner or later one will.

-Warren Buffet

The startup is a wonderful thing, when a company has 3 or 5 or maybe even 10 employees, the single most important thing is the strength of the leader, the CEO, the quarterback if you will. Truly successful companies grow beyond that point though. They begin to become a full-fledged team. Individual contributors become less and less important. In fact, in the best companies, great leadership is a luxury not a necessity.

The Steelers proved this point for me over the weekend. Regardless of what you may think about Big Ben personally, he is one of the 5 or so most valuable players in all of football. His ability to shake tackles and make plays is something that only he (and possibly Mike Vick) have. There is no doubt that the Steelers are a better team with him, but is he necessary? Apparently not. We should all strive to run and work for companies that are like the Steelers in this manner.